of the Corinthian order; the dome designed to occupy the centre of the church is not yet commenced, and it is said that it will be so heavy that the pillars will be insufficient to support its weight. The interior is at present a mere heap of rubbish; and a Catholic church owes so much to the customary ornaments, that it is impossible to form an idea of the effect which may be produced in this building whenever it is finished.

The Convent of the Capuchins deserves notice; not with respect to the building, nor the internal œconomy of the house, but because the church contains the two best pictures in Cadiz, both painted by the celebrated Murillo. The subject of one of them is a crucifixion; the expressions are excellent, and the colouring in the best style of that master. The other picture was left unfinished when that artist died, and was completed by his pupil Osorio Meneses, whose manner of painting more nearly resembles his great master's than any other of his imitators; it is placed over the high altar, and represents the marriage of St. Catherine with the holy infant in the arms of his mother; the figures and colouring are admirable.

In the garden of the convent there is a tree, which, being the only one of the kind in Europe, may be considered as a great curiosity: it yields the resinous gum called Dragon's Blood. I was informed that it came originally from the East Indies, but at what time, or in what manner it was conveyed, I could not learn.

Good water is very scarce in this city: there are no springs on the peninsula but what are brackish, fit only for washing, and not for culinary purposes: every house has a cistern, or tank filled with rain.

water, but they usually prefer drinking that, which is brought in casks, by boats, from St. Mary's. To cool this water and render it fit for drinking, they filter it through small jars of porous clay, which renders it very pleasant and refreshing. The richer inhabitants use water cooled with ice, which is brought daily from the mountains of Ronda in large quantities, and in this climate is a great luxury.

LETTER V.

SOLANO

HIS EQUITABLE GOVERNMENT PREVIOUS TO THE REVOLUTION WANTS CONFIDENCE IN THE PEOPLE-DECLINES JOINING THE PATRIOTSEXASPERATES THEM-IS PUT TO DEATH.

CADIZ, SEPT. 1809.

AMONG the different objects which invite the attention of strangers in this city, the house of Solano the late governor, cannot be overlooked. The recent circumstances of his death, the revolutionary spirit of the people by whom it was occasioned, and the unnecessary cruelty with which it was attended, naturally induce every visitor to contemplate, with peculiar interest, the ruined residence of this unfortunate man. As you may take some interest in his fate, and the circumstances that led to his tragical death, I shall give you a sketch of his character and conduct.

Solano had enjoyed the government of Cadiz many years: and he had mixed in the social circles of the higher orders of its inhabitants on the most friendly terms. The officers of the army and navy respected him, and being a rigid assertor of the laws, the people looked up with confidence to his justice; and his time was occupied in promoting the comfort of the inhabitants and in ornamenting the city. The power which the governor of Cadiz possessed, under the old Spanish government, was so considerable, that it more resembled the authority of an

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independent sovereign than the delegate of a king of Spain. This power Solano certainly exercised in the most honourable and beneficial manner; and many improvements in the public walks and buildings of this town and neighbourhood bear testimony to his industry, taste, and spirit.

During the war with England, and while the port of Cadiz was blockaded by our fleet, the mutual interchange of civilities between the and the commander of the British squadron was never governor interrupted, though the former was acting under the penetrating eyes of the officers of the French navy. In fact, the private friends of Solano know that no man in Spain more severely regretted the state of degradation to which the government of his country. was reduced. He had no confidence in the spirit of his countrymen, nor any conception that Spain contained men with energy sufficient to throw off the French yoke, or exhibit that determined character which was discovered at Baylen, Saragossa, and Gerona. Despairing of his country, he resigned himself to her degradation, and soothed himself with the resolution of performing every thing, within the sphere of his power, for the benefit of those over whom he presided.

When the events at Bayonne were first known in Andalusia, and the patriotic inhabitants of Seville had resolved to oppose the profligate usurpations of Buonaparte, Solano was absent from his government with the Spanish army on the frontiers of Portugal : having received intimation of the spirit of resistance prevailing at Seville, he hastened to that city. The chiefs of the insurrection there, Montejo, Saavedra, Tili, and Padre Gill, impressed with the warmest feelings of patriotism, relying on the justice of their

cause, and not entertaining a doubt of what the conduct of a Spanish officer would be under such circumstances, communicated to Solano, in full confidence of his co-operation, all their secret and as yet undigested projects. Solano, with the caution and coolness of an experienced and wary man, doubted if the plans of the leaders were sufficiently matured to afford a prospect of success, or the

energy of the people sufficiently roused to second their views. Solano required time to deliberate, and continued indecisive till the chiefs growing impatient at his hesitation required a second interview, and demanded a definitive answer. He promised to give them one the next day, but instead of waiting for that time he departed with the utmost celerity for Cadiz. He arrived there unexpectedly, and issued a paper, stating that his sudden return arose from the information he had received, that the next day the English fleet was to bombard the city.

Under pretence of this threatened bombardment he removed the cannon from the land side towards the sea, and dispatched messengers to Dupont, then advancing into Andalusia, to hasten his approach by forced marches. Upon the pretext that the casemates under the fortifications would be wanted as shelter for the inhabitants, when the pretended British bombardment took place, he removed the military stores, and even the gunpowder out of the city, and thus prepared for a quiet surrender of the place to the French invaders. Admiral Purvis, the commander of the British fleet, aware of the movements that were taking place in Spain, from his previous communications with the Royal Family on the subject of their removal to Mexico, hoped that Solano would have joined the standard of his country, and attempted